Asian American plays began to emerge as people began to immigrate from Asia. The earliest known plays were in the 1850's, traditional operas, acrobatics, and puppet shows were imported from China. Many of these plays were performed in California, considering this is where the Asian population was the most concentrated. Shows like these did not begin to tour until about 1852. Years later, an anti-Chinese sentiment began to emerge, causing racial tension and driving many Asians to different parts of the country where they would be concentrated into Asian communities called "Chinatowns". Many works by the Asian immigrants continued to remain in Chinese opera houses, and later to Cinemas. Flash forward to the 30's and 40's, Asian Americans began to appear in Western style live entertainment with Asian themes, like The King and I or Teahouse of the August Moon. The problem is, most Asian leads were played by Caucasians. This made it seem as if Asians were considered to not even be talented enough to represent themselves. This ongoing issue lead to the creation of The East West Players in Los Angeles in 1965, a group that gave actors an opportunity to showcase their talent and declare ethnic pride. In years following, more ensembles followed suit, leading to the production of shows like Chickencoop Chinaman that were considered legitimate to the public, and also showed the frustrations of the life of Asian Americans and how the media image contradicts reality. Plays like this continued, giving the public a deeper look into the history of Asian American experiences, from internment camps, immigration, and general stereotypes portrayed with realism. Some Asian American playwrights and actors keep their ethnicity as an asset to the roles they play or their work, like David Henry Hwang with M. Butterfly. Others may leave it out, just so the focus can be on the work itself, not the people involved. Either way, theatre has played a great role in giving Asian Americans the opportunity to represent themselves accurately, show their talents, and invite the general public to be more understanding and accepting rather than basing all opinions off of the media.